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W. W. BARNES.

TOY 0R DOLL. HOUSE.

No. 256,191. Patented Apr.11,1 882.

INVENTOR;

By his flttorneys,

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TOY OR DOLL HOUSE.

No. 256,191. Patented Apr. 11; 188

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By his flttorneys, flu/r/c oam WITNESSES:

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WESLEY W. BARNES, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO STIR-N 85 LYON, OF

SAME PLACE.

TOY OR DOLL HOUSE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 256,191, dated April 11 1862.

Application filed January 26, 1582. (No model.)

of the city, county, and State of New York, a

citizen of the United States, have invented certain Improvements in Toy or Doll Houses, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to toy houses, stables, barns, &c., which are made from detachable pieces or elements, and capable of being taken apart piece by piece and placed in a packingbox, the body of the box serving as a basement for the house, and the sliding cover of the box, in some cases, for the roof. The elements of the house are connected together removably and detachabl y by means of pins and grooves, so that a child may readily set up the .house and dismantle it, and when set up it will be firm and strong. I may apply the same principles of construction to (loll-houses, so called, stables, barns, 1nenageries,-&c., the latter containing ordinary toy horses, vehicles, and animals. These latter I do not claim. My invention relates to the manner of constructing the house or inclosure.

In the drawings, which serve to illustrate my invention, Figure 1 is a front, and Fig. 2 an end, elevation of a miniature or toy house constructed according to my invention. Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional plan of the house on the line 3 3 in Figs. 1 and 2. Figs. at and 5 are detached details of the same, which will be more particularly referred to hereinafter. Figs. 6, 7', 8, and 9 serve to illustrate modified constructions of my invention, which will be referred to more particularly hereinafter.

Referring to Figs. 1 to 5 most particularly, A is a rectangular box, which serves as a receptacle for the elements of the house, and also for a basement-for the same when the house is set up. To serve as a basement the diate posts each with two grooves on opposite faces. The panels D D, which form the front of the house, the panels I), which form the ends of the house, and the plain panels D which form the back of the house, are slipped 5 down inthe grooves in the posts, as shown. The box-cover B, which-also has six holes bored in it, is now fitted. onto the tops of the posts to form a roof, the pins a on the upper ends of same passing through the holes in said cover. This binds all firmly together. Beforeputting on the roof B a second floor, consisting of a thin board, E, Fig. 3, may be laid in, its ends resting on cleats b on the end panels, D.

The cornice of the house is constructed of two grooved strips, F, (made in two parts, to get it into the box,) which are attached by forcing the edge of the roof B into the grooves in said strips. In these strips are bored holes to receive tenon-pins on shortv posts 0 0, each of which has a groove in its face to receive the ends of a frontispiece, G.

The doors and windows (I d in the front and ends of the house are formed by cutting out suitably shaped parts from the panels and hinging them to the same by means of cloth or leather hinges e, glued or pasted to the parts, as bestshown in Fig. 3.

A balcony is formed across the front of the house as follows: Pinsffare inserted in holes in the fronts of the corner-posts O, and on these are slipped an ornamented strip, 9, which has a hole bored at eachend'. Another strip, h, is simply laid on the pins, to serve as afloor, and 8 5 ornaments i, which maybe considered as lamps, are slipped over the ends of the pins, either inside or outside of strip 9, they bein g bored for the purpose, as shown. Another and shorter balcony is arranged below the lower front win- 0 dows, constructed in the same manner.

The steps before the door in the front of the building are constructed as follows: In the side of the box A, forming the basement, are bored two holes at the proper distance apart 9 5 to suit the length of the steps. Two horses,

H H, (seen in side view in Fig. 2 and detached in Fig. 4,)are properly cut from aboard and notched to form the risers. These horses have each a pin or dowel, i, which, whenthe steps roo are set up, are forced into the holes in the sides of the box. The rear edges of the treads j are forced into recesses 70, cut into the horses, as shown. The upper step or platform, j, is simply laid on the horses.

On the exterior of the panels, basement, 850., of the house may be stenciled lines to indicate the bricks, ornamental work, 850., of the house. I have omitted these to avoid obscuring the drawings.

This house may be taken to pieces and put in thebox and the roof B slipped in to form the box-cover. The pieces that fit into the grooves are made to fit tightly, and the tenonpins are also made to fit snugly into their sockets.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view ofthe inverted box, showing the position of the groove I, in which the cover 13 slides. In Figs. 6 and 7 I have shown my mode of constructing the house as applied to a stable with an open front and pitched roof. Fig. 6 is a front view, and Fig. 7 a vertical section on line 7 7 in Fig. 6. In this construction the ends Dare cut to a point or pitched, and the tops of the posts 0 O are beveled to correspond. The roof is formed of thin boards B, and the cover B of the box. is utilized to form a sloping approach up to the floor of the stable.

Fisa grooved ridgepole, in which the edges of the roof-boards are inserted. The left-hand end forms awagon-hou'se,in which may be put a toy wagon, I, and the right-hand end is divided into stalls for toy horses J J. The stalls are divided by sloping partitions 7n, the front ends of which slip down in grooves in posts it, doweled into the bottom of the box A, and the rear ends rest against the back panels, D A thin board,p, forms the front of the feed-box, and is notched into the partitions m, and another thin board, q, forms the bottom of same. The feed-hex extends across all of the stalls.

Figs. 8 and 9 show myinvention as applied to a toy menageric. The first is a front elevation, and thelatterasection on line 9 9m Fig. 8. In this construction all the parts, animals, 850., may be packed in the box A, and the cover B slipped in to closeit, as usual. up on its side to form a basement, and the postsO which have pins or. dowels a a in their ends, are fixed in holes in the box, as described in Fig. 1. The short posts 0 have holes in their tops, which receive the projecting ends of the dowels a. The frontispieces G are set in grooves in posts 0 and 0 as in Fig. 1, and floors E and roof B are arranged in substantially the same manner as those elements in Fig. 1. The cover B serves as aback for the second story, being supported on pins, and slender strips 1' i" run through holesin the sides of the box and the floors and roof to form imitation bars.

I am aware that toy houses have been constructed with grooved cornerposts and panels arranged to slide into them, the posts being kept in place by means of halved sills and caps The box is set secured by pins in the ends of the posts; and I am also aware that such houses have been built up of pieces somewhat in the manner of a log-house and merely set on the box which is intended to contain the parts; but I am not aware of the box having ever been constructed to serve as a part ofand basement for the house, orthe cover ofthe box having been constructed to serve as a flat roof for the house, or of the doors and windows of the house having been constructed as I have herein described.

Having thus described my invention, I claim- 1. The sides of a toy house, constructed of panels arranged-to slide in groovesin the posts, as shown, and provided with doors and windows cut in the said panels, and the pieces 61 cut therefrom provided with flexible hinges e,

the openings, substantially as shown.

2. The combination of the box having holes or sockets in its bottom to receive the tenons on the posts, the grooved posts with tenonpins on their ends, the cover of the box having holes or sockets to receive the tenons on the upperends of the posts, and the panels arranged to slide into the grooves in the posts, and provided with windows and doors cut from them and hinged substantially as shown, all arranged substantially as set forth.

3. The cornice of a toy house, constructed of the grooved pieces F, posts 0, and frontispiece G, in combination with the roof B, all arranged substantially as set forth.

, 4. The combination, with a toy house, of the balcony constructed of the pinsf, floor h, and

ornamented with strip g, all arranged substantenoned and grooved posts, and the panels-of I10 the box A, constructed to serve as a basement for the same, and the cover B, constructed to serve as a roof for the same, substantially as set forth.

7. The combination, to form a toy house, of the inverted box A, provided with holes in its bottom to receive the tenons on the posts, and holes in its side to receive the pins on the horses of the steps, of the tenoned and grooved posts 0 O, the box-coverB,the panelsDDD the cornice, the balcony, and the steps, all eon strncted substantially as set forth.

In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WESLEY W. BARNES.

W'itnesses:

HENRY CONNETT, ARTHUR G. FRASER. 

